Method and means of dispersing particulate material in a stream of carrier fluid



July 12, 1966 1.. A. SMITZER ETAL 3,260,408

METHOD AND MEANS OF DISPERSING PARTICULATE MATERIAL IN A STREAM OF CARRIER FLUID Filed April 8, v1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS Zozgzbzf. 612212 262 f -5 by M, r=w #Wm- J ly 2, 1966 L. A SMITZER ETAL 3,

METHOD AND MEANS OF DISPERSING PARTIGULATE MATERIAL IN A STREAM OF CARRIER FLUID 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 8, 1964 Fig.2

INVENTORS Zozqzsfl Smizer M 122 5132x19 United States Patent 3,260,408 METHOD AND MEANS OF DISPERSIN G PARTICU- LATE MATERIAL IN A STREAM 0F CARRIER FLUID Louis A. Smitzer, Chicago, and William E. Bixby, Deerfield, 11]., assignors to Bell & Howell Company, Chicago, IlL, a corporation of Illinois Filed Apr. 8, 1964, Ser. No. 358,332 22 Claims. (Cl. 222-1) This invention relates generally to aerosol devices and more particularly to an improved method and means for admixing a supply of particulate material with a stream of carrier fluid.

It is contemplated by the present invention that a row of metering apertures be filled with particulate material whereupon a supply of carrier fluid driven through a circuit in the form of a stream is selectively directed through the apertures separately and sequentially to admix the contents of each aperture in the stream.

There is thus provided an improved means of forming an aerosol stream containing an accurate dispersion of atomized material comminuted to any desired degree of fineness.

It is an object of the present invention, therefore, to provide improved means and methods of dispersing a particulate material in a carrier stream.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an improved aerosol device wherein metered quantities of c-omminuted material may be admixed with a carrier stream.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a method and means of forming an aerosol stream wherein the quality of the stream may be selectively varied.

A further object is to provide an aerosol stream of particulate material where the source material does not have to be contained in a pressurized chamber but can be loaded at normal room conditions.

Many other features, advantages and additional objects of the present invention will become manifest from the detailed description which follows and the accompanying sheets of drawings in which a preferred structural embodiment of an aerosol device is illustrated. It is believed that the methods of the present invention will be clearly understood from the description of the apparatus provided for practicing such methods.

On the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a cross-sectional view of an aerosol device provided in accordance with the principles of the present invention and with parts of the system shown diagrammatically in order to complete a fully operative environment therefor;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the device shown in FIGURE 1 and FIGURE 3 is an enlarged inset illustrating additional details of construction of the aerosol device.

As shown on the drawings:

It will be understood that the aerosol device of the present invention is of general utility and can be utilized whenever it is desired to admix with a carrier stream a quantity of particulated material such as a comminuted solid.

A "base plate carries a plurality of upright standards 11 on which is supported a frame including a lower member 12, two side walls 13 and 14 and an upper cross piece 16.

The uprights 11 support an electric motor shown generally at 17 connected to a source of electrical power indicated at L by means of conductor wires 18. The operational speed of the electric motor 17 can be selectively "ice adjusted by means of a rheostat 19 having an adjustable arm 20.

The motor 17 has a driving connection with a speed changer 21 connected as at 22 to the lower member 12. A power shaft extends out of the speed changer 21 and is indicated at 23. A coupling member 24 is co-rotatably fastened to the shaft 23 by a set screw 26. The coupling member 24 is fastened to a shaft of reduced diameter shown at 27 by means of a set screw 28. The shaft 27 is journaled in a pair of spaced bearing assemblies 29 and 30 spaced along the length of the shaft 29 by means of a support member 31 connected to the side walls 13 and 14 by means of fasteners 32.

At the upper end thereof, the shaft 27 is connected to a rotatable plate member 33 which forms to bottom wall of a bowl or cup-shaped reservoir shown generally at 34. The bowl or cup-shaped reservoir 34 has an upstanding ring-shaped member 36 forming the side walls thereof and at the bottom edge the ring-shaped member 36 is notched as at 37 to snugly receive the peripheral edges of the plate 33.

Inwardly of the side walls of the bowl 34, the plate 33 is formed with a plurality of metering apertures which are circumferentially spaced from one another by uniform distances and which apertures are indicated at 38. Each aperture 38 is of a uniform length since the plate 33 has upper and lower flat parallel sides and each aperture 38 is of a uniform size since the cross-sectional area thereof is the same for all of the apertures 38. Although the cross-sectional area could be of various shapes, in the form illustrated the apertures are cylindrical.

Subjacent the plate 33 there is formed a backing plate 39 which has its upper surface recessed as at 40, thereby to receive and seat a sealing ring 41 made of a good sealing and bearing material for engaging against the lower surface of the plate 33 in the area of the annular row of apertures 38. The plate 39 is urged upward by a spring to obtain sealing pressure and prevent powder from falling out. Thus, the sealing ring 41 engages the bottom of the plate 33 and seals the bottom of the apertures 38, thereby preventing any particulate material contained within the bowl 34 from passing freely through the apertures 38.

The sealing ring 41 is formed with an opening 42 and the backing plate 39 is likewise formed with an opening 43 in which is received a bushing 44 having a pilot portion 46 received in a recess 47 extending into the member 31 from an upper surface thereof.

The bushing 44 receives a flanged disk 48 and an O ring sealing member 49 is disposed between the disk 48 and the bushing 44, thereby to form a sealed passage which lies in register with a single aperture 38. The external surface of the bushing 44 is recessed at 50 and receives an O ring sealing member which engages the side walls of the recess 47 in the member 31 and the bushing 44 also prescribes a passage 51 leading into the passage 47.

The passage 47 is intersected 'by a transverse passage 52 and at the end of the passage 52 is located a nipple 53 for connection to a coupling member 54, thereby permitting attachment of a conduit 56 for carrying a carrier stream to the aerosol generator.

Refenring to FIGURE 2 in connection with FIGURE 1, the upper cross piece 16 is formed with a vertically extending threaded aperture 57 in which is threadedly received an adjusting screw 58 carrying on the end thereof a doctor blade 59 having a trimming edge 60 spaced just above the upper surface \of the plate 33. The doctor blade 59 is attached to the screw 58 by means of a fastener 61. By adjusting the screw 58 in the threaded aperture 57, the spacing dimension between the plate 33 and the doctor blade 59 may be selectively adjusted. Thus, upon rotation of the plate 33, the doctor blade will operate to re-distribute the particulate material.

A crank arm 62 is pivotally connected as at 62a to the side Wfill'l 13 and carries at the end thereof an axle 63 by means of which a roller wheel 64 is rotatably journaled for rotation on the end of the crank arm 62. The roller wheel 64 is disposed to have its peripheral surface 65 rotatably engage the upper surface of the plate 33 at a track location corresponding to the row of annular metering apertures 38.

A torsion spring 66 is fastened to the pivotal connection 63 and engages the crank arm 62 at 67, thereby to continuously bias the roller wheel 64 towards the plate 33.

A conduit member 70 is carried in an aperture 71 extending vertically through the cross piece 16 and at the end thereof carries a ferrule 72 which receives and seats a seal ring 73 engaging the upper surface of the plate 33 in register with the aperture 38 above the passage 42. The ferrule 72 also confines an O ring sealing member 74, thereby to provide a good seal with the conduit 70. A passage 76 extends through the conduit 70 and the conduit 70 is locked in assembly with the cross piece 16 by means of a lock nut 77.

The upper end of the conduit 70 is threaded as at 70a, thereby to receive a coupling member 78 which, in turn, has a threaded neck 79 receiving a nipple fitting including parts 80 and 81 for effecting connection to a conduit member 82 leading to a fitting 90 which includes a chamber forming member Q1 coupled as at 92 to a discharge fitting 93 from whence the aerosol stream is conducted to a point of utilization.- It will be noted that the chamber forming member 91 is particularly characterized by an internal passage 94 having a mouth 95 which is wider than the conduit 82 and having an outlet end 96 which is greatly restricted to a size less than the conduit 82. Since the final discharge is effected by the elongated discharge fitting 93, the operation of the components in the configuration of the passage provided thereby is to break up and disperse any particulate material.

A blower 83 having a driven connection 84 with a drive motor 86 functions as a source of carrier fluid at increased pressure, the carier fluid in this instance constituting air and the conduit 82 operating to confine and direct the supply of pressurized canrier fluid in the form of a stream. Thus, the stream of carrier fluid is directed through a single orifice provided by the apertures 38.

The aerosol device of the present invention functions eflectively to disperse particulate material and admix the same with a carrier stream under a wide variety of conditions. In a typical insallation, the carrier stream may take the form of a gaseous fluid such as air and the pressure of the stream is maintained in a range of from about 20 p.s.i. to about 80 p.s.i. Further, the particle size of the comminuted material should also hear a reasonable relation to the size of the metering apertures in the plate 33. For one example wherein the metering apertures 38 measure 0.125 inch in length and constitute a circular cross-section having a diameter of 0.040 inch, the particulate material is comminuted in a mill to a micron size in the order of about from 1 or 2 microns to microns, 90% of the material being no larger than 4 or 5 microns.

In operation, as is clearly shown in FIGURE 3, as the plate 33 and the roller wheel 64 move relative to one another, the metering apertures 38 are charged with a predetermined quantity of particulate material herein indicated at M. The charge is uniform because the aperture 38 is loaded by the wheel 64 which is urged by the continuous biasing means 66, and an adequate supply of particulate material M is maintained in register with the annular row of apertures 38 by the doctor blade 59. Further, the sealing material 41 backs up the apertures 33 so that each metering aperture 38 receives a predetermined quantum tor metered supply of particulate material, based on the volume of aperture 38.

As each aperture 38 comes in register with the openings provided on opposite sides of the plate and constituting the passage 42, 51, 76, the pressurized carrier stream is directed through the aperture 38, thereby admixing the particulate material contained within the metering aperture 38 into the carrier stream. The mixture of the material in the stream is directly proportional to the rate of rotation of the plate 33, a variable which can be very closely regulated by controlling the operation of the motor 17 through adjustment of the rheostat 19, 20.

Although minor modifications might be suggested by those versed in the art, it should be understood that we wish to embody within the scope of the patent warranted hereon all such modifications as reasonably and properly come within the scope of our contribution to the art.

We claim as our invention:

1. The method of dispersing a particulate material in a carrier stream which includes the steps of filling a row of metering apertures with particulate material,

driving a supply of carrier fluid through a circuit in the form of a stream,

and at one point in the circuit directing the stream selectively through said apertures separately and sequentially to admix the contents of each aperture in the stream.

2. The method of dispensing a particulate material in a carrier stream which includes the steps of driving a supply of fluid through a circuit in the form of a stream,

at one point in the circuit temporarily interposing an orifice of discrete length and cross-sectional area so that all of the stream is directed through the orifice,

and pre-filling said orifices with particulate material so that a measured quantum of material will be admixed with the stream each time the orifice is temporarily interposed therein.

3. The method of admixing and dispensing a particulate material in a carrier stream which includes the steps of (a) driving a supply of fluid through a circuit in the form of a stream,

(b) at one point in the circuit interposing separately and sequentially a series of orifices equally sized in length and cross-sectional area so that all of the stream is directed through each respective orifice,

(c) and pre-filling the orifices with particulate material outside of said circuit.

4. The method of claim 3 and further characterized by step (a) comprising pressurizing a supply of air.

5. The method of claim 3 and being further characterized by step (b) being varied selectively to adjust the sequential rate of interposition, thereby to adjust the density of the admixed stream.

6. The method of claim 3 and further characterized by step (c) comprising filling the orifices with comminuted carbon.

7. The method of forming an aerosol stream of atomized solid material which includes the steps of (a) comminuting a mass of solid material into a size of about from 4 to 5 microns,

(b) dividing and confining the comminuted mass into a series of cylinders of predetermined length and cross-sectional areas,

(c) p-ressurizing a supply of carrier fluid,

((1) driving the pressurized carrier fluid in the form of a stream,

(e) and confining and directing said stream through said cylinders separately and sequentially to admix the contents of each cylinder with the stream.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein step (a) comprises comminuting a carbon material.

9. The method of claim 7 wherein step (c) comprises pressurizing a supply of air.

10. The method of claim 7 wherein step (e) is selec- 51 tively varied to adjust the sequential rate, thereby to control the density of the aerosol stream.

11. An aerosol device for comminuted solids comprismeans forming a row of metering apertures,

means for filling said apertures with a supply of comminuted material,

conduit means forming a circuit for carrying a stream of carrier fluid,

and means at one point in said circuit for driving said stream selectively through said apertures separately and sequentially to admix the contents of each aperture in the stream.

12. Means for dispersing a particulate material in a carrier stream which comprises conduit means for confining a pressurized supply of carrier fluid in the form of a stream,

means forming an orifice of discrete length and crosssectional area,

means for selectively and temporarily interposing said orifice across said stream at one point in said circuit,

and means for pre-filling said orifice with particulate material before interposi-ng the same in said stream,

thereby to admix the contents of said orifice with said stream.

13. Means for admixing a carrier stream with a supply of particulate material comprising a plate having plural metering apertures formed therein,

means for filling said metering apertures with particulate material,

and means for placing said metering apertures in the stream of carrier fluid to admix the particulate material with the carrier stream.

14. Means for admixing a carrier stream with a supply of particulate material comprising,

conduit means for confining and directing a supply of fluid from a source at increased pressure in the form of a stream,

means comprising a plate formed with a series of metering apertures,

means for packing said apertures full of particulate material,

and means for moving one aperture at a time into said carrier stream,

thereby to mix the contents of the aperture with the stream.

15. An aerosol device comprising a cup shaped reservoir for receiving a supply of particulate material,

a plate at the bottom of said reservoir having a series of apertures of uniform length and cross-sectional area forming an annular row of metering orifices uniformly spaced from one another circumferentially,

means including an electric motor to rotatably drive said plate,

an arm carrying a roller wheel disposed to have its peripheral surface rotatably engage the upper surface of the plate at said apertures to pack the particulate material contained within said reservoir into said apertures,

means subjacent said plate and engaging said plate at said apertures to retain the material in said apertures,

and means forming a passage intersected by said plate at said apertures through which a stream of carrier fluid is driven for directing the carrier fluid through a single aperture at a time,

thereby to admix the contents of each aperture with the stream.

16. An aerosol device as defined in claim 15 and further characterized by the provision of a doctor blade spaced above said plate to re-distribute the particulate material upon rotation of said plate.

17. An aerosol device as defined in claim 15 and further characterized by the additional provision of a continuous biasing means for engaging said arm and urging said roller wheel towards said plate, thereby to assist in filling said apertures.

18. An aerosol device as defined in claim 15 and further characterized by the provision of means to adjustably vary the speed of said electric motor, thereby to adjust the rotation of said plate and the rate of admixture of said particulate material with the stream.

19. An aerosol device as defined in claim 15 and further comprising a fitting having a convergent chamber through which the aerosol stream is discharged, thereby to break up any particulate material.

20. The method of dispersing particulate material in a carrier stream which includes the steps of,

driving a supply of fluid through a circuit in the form of a confined stream, maintaining a supply of particulate material at ambient temperature and pressure to afiord free replenishment, pre-filling said supply into a series of orifices of predetermined volume from said supply, and selectively interposing said orifices into said stream temporarily to admix the particulate material with the stream. 21. An aerosol device for comminuted solids comprising,

a plate having a row of metering apertures formed therein, means for filling said apertures with a supply of comminuted material comprising a bowl-shaped container wherein said plate forms the bottom wall of said container, conduit means forming a circuit for carrying a stream of carrier fluid, and means at one point in said circuit including sealing means on opposite sides of said plate for driving said stream selectively through each of said apertures separately and sequentially, thereby increasing the pressure in the aperture to admix the contents of each aperture in the stream. 22. Apparatus for forming an aerosol stream of atomized solid material comprising,

a mass of comminuted solid material having a particle size in the order of about from 4 to 5 microns, a container having side walls and an apertured bottom wall for confining the comminuted mass,

said apertured bottom wall having the apertures thereof consisting of a series of openings forming cylinders of predetermined length and crosssectional area to divide the comminuted mass into metered increments, said container and said openings being at ambient temperatures and pressures, conduit means for carrying a pressurized supply of carrier fluid, means for driving pressurized carrier fluid in the form of a stream through said conduit means, and sealing means between said bottom wall and said conduit means for confining and directing said stream through each of said cylinders separately and sequentially to admix the contents of each cylinder with the stream.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,014,844 12/1941 Thiel et a1. 167-82 3,144,385 8/1964 McGrew 252-305 X 3,169,095 2/1965 Thiel et a1. 252-305 X 3,178,235 4/1965 Zimmermann 302-49 LOUIS I. DEMBO, Primary Examiner. STANLEY H. TOLLBERG, Examiner. 

1. THE METHOD OF DISPERSING A PARTICULATE MATERIAL IN A CARRIER STREAM WHICH INCLUDES THE STEPS OF FILLING A ROW OF METERING APERTURES WITH PARTICULATE MATERIAL, DRIVING A SUPPLY OF CARRIER FLUID THROUGH A CIRCUT IN THE FORM OF A STREAM, AND AT ONE POINT IN THE CIRCUIT DIRECTING THE STREAM SELECTIVELY THROUGH SAID APERTURES SEPARATELY AND SEQUENTIALLY TO ADMIX THE CONTENTS OF EACH APERTURE IN THE STREAM. 